I was standing in the kitchen helping with dinner, asking my mom about my brother's doctor ' s appointment. They were testing him for autism(自闭症 ) . My brother, Captain, four years old at the time, had always been my best friend. We would wrestle, play games and have the best of times together, even though we were far apart in age. My mom told me about the appointment, but ,when she got to the point about the test, she stopped. I turned around and she had tears in her eyes. I stared at her, wishing she would say something , when I realized what that silence meant. My eyes got blurry (模糊的 ) and my breathing got very ragged. " The test was positive , sweetheart , " she said. I broke down, crying.
My mom was trying to cool me down, saying that Captain couldn't see me like this and I had to be a big girl , when the front door opened, and Captain, our three-year-old sister Cali, and my father came in. I walked out of the kitchen. I couldn't look at him. Everything had just changed. He was no longer that little baby brother who was just a normal little boy.
We had to move a while later because Captain needed treatment. One day ,I was standing in the bus line waiting when the " short bus" came and picked some kids up. The children in the other line started making jokes about the " retards(智力迟钝者) " on that bus and I felt a strange feeling in my stomach, ,which I had never felt before.
During a band class, my teacher, Mrs. Young, stopped our playing to give us some feed- back. " Guys ,we ' re playing like the kids on the short bus ! Come on!" I felt that same feeling I had in the bus line. The entire room was laughing when I raised my hand. " Yes , Alexis?" Mrs. Young asked. "I don't think we should make fun of the short bus, because there are a lot of people on that bus who have great personalities and have the same feelings as we do. And also ,I know some people on those buses and they are some of the most caring, sweetest, and smartest people , so I would appreciate it if you didn't make fun of them. "
Everyone stared at me. Mrs. Young apologized for the comment and then started the song again. What did Alexis think her mother' s silence mean in Paragraph One?
| A．There was no chance for Alexis to play games with Captain. |
| B．Captain was likely to miss the appointment. |
| C．Captain really suffered from autism. |
| D．Alexis had to prepare dinner quickly. |
Why did Alexis go out of the kitchen?
| A．Because she didn't want to help with dinner. |
| B．Because she would be much sadder looking at Captain. |
| C．Because she wanted to play with Captain outside. |
| D．Because she wasn't willing to meet a sick brother. |
What Alexis said to her teacher can be seen as a kind of .
| A．threat | B．approval | C．apology | D．condemnation |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Speaking up. | B．Giving up. | C．Looking .up. | D．Taking up. |
Farmer Ed Rawlings smiles as he looks at his orange trees. The young oranges are growing well in Florida's weather. Warm sunshine and gentle rains, along with Ed Rawlings' expert care, will produce a good crop of oranges this year.
But Ed has to fight against Florida's changeable winter weather. In January and February, temperatures can destroy Ed's entire orange, crop. Having farmed in Florida for the past 35 years, Ed Rawlings is prepared for the frosts(霜). When temperatures drop below freezing， Ed tries to save his crop by watering his orange trees. The water freezes and forms a thin layer (层)of ice on the trees. Strange as it may sound, this thin layer of ice actually keeps the fruit warm.
What happens is simple. When the trees are watered, the water loses heat and becomes ice. The warmth of the heat it loses is sucked in by the fruit and keeps its temperature at a safe level. Ed Rawlings has effectively used this method(方法)to save many orange crops.
But Ed still faces some difficulties. The trees should be watered at the exact moment the temperature drops to the freezing point. Also, just the right quantity of water must be used. Too much water can form a thick layer of ice that will break the trees' branches. Another difficulty is that wind blows away the heat. So Ed has to worry about not only when but also how often his trees should be watered, and how much water should be used.
Computer technology may help Ed Rawlings with some of these worries. With equipment, air and soil temperatures and wind speed can be measured. The information is fed into a computer which can tell when temperatures drop to freezing. The computer can correctly decide the quantity of water to be used and how frequently the trees should be watered. Ed Rawlings will find looking after his orange trees a lot easier with the help of a computer, and we'll all have the benefits(or advantages)of computer-age oranges.
1. The passage is mainly about _____ .
A.a farmer's expert care for his orange trees
B. the different uses of computers
C. growing oranges in Florida's changeable weather
D. different ways of frost protection
2. Ed tried to protect his crop by _____ .
A. using a wind machine to drive away the cold air
B. equipping his orange trees with a computer
C. watering it at the proper time
D. picking his fruit at the first sign of frost
3. In the writer's eyes, computers _____ .
A.are too expensive for small farmers
B. can be a valuable tool for the farmer
C. can be used to help oranges grow bigger
D. cannot take the place of the farmer's experience and judgement
4. Which of the following is NOT NECESSARY for Ed Rawlings to do?
A. He should water the orange trees as soon as the temperature drops to the
freezing point.
B. He should decide the quantity of water for the orange trees.
C. He has to water the orange trees more often in January and February.
D. He has to judge how often he should water the orange trees.
5. According to the passage, the computer technology can _____ .
A.get rid of the need for frost protection
B. help the farmer get a better harvest
C. tell the farmer why outdoor temperature changes
D. prevent the temperature from dropping to the freezing point
第二节：信息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。
以下是音乐会的信息：
| A．Pop star: Singer and composer Emil Chau, one of the most admired music idols in China and Southeast Asia, will perform a solo concert in Beijing. Chau was born in Hong Kong and attended college in Taiwan. He has released more than 30 albums in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Time: 7:30 pm, March 31 Place: Capital Gymnasium, Baishiqiao Lu, Haidian District Tel: 6833-5552 |
| B．Beautiful timbre: Jasmine Leong will meet her Beijing fans next month. Singing with beautiful timbre, Leong will present a series of love stories to the audience. To highlight the theme of love, 200 sets of lover's tickets, valued at 1800 yuan will be presented. Tickets: 180-980 yuan (US$22-121) Time/date: 7:30 pm, September 9 Location: Workers' Gymnasium, Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District Tel: 6501-6655 |
| C．Music for children: Some 50 colourful music-related performances will be staged until August 28 in an "Open the Door to Music" series of concerts, in a move to foster Chinese children's taste for art. The concert series will be held in several venues, sponsored by the Forbidden City Concert Hall and supported by the Beijing Municipal Culture Bureau. Tickets: 10-100 yuan (US$1-12) Time/date: 2 pm or 7:30 pm, July 20-August 28 Location: mainly in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Zhongshan Park, some in Peking University Hall in Haidian District and in the China Puppet Art Theatre and Poly Theatre Tel: 6506-5343, 6506-5345 |
| D．Feel the mood: Jonathan Lee will host his 2006 concert in Beijing. As the master of music in Taiwan, Lee is famous for his unique annotation of love, mood and life. |
Time: 7:30 pm, March 24, 25
Place: Capital Gymnasium, Baishiqiao Lu, Haidian District
Tel: 6835-4020
E. Commemorative show: To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, the founder of modern prose drama, a concert titled "Nora's Songs" will be given.
Time: 7:30 pm, March 20
Place: Peking University Concert Hall
Tel: 6275-2279, 6275-9637
F. Chamber music: The chamber concert series of China Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra will greet audiences with a woodwind quintet, a string quartet plus Bach's piano concerto and suite.
Time: 7:30 pm, March 25
Place: The Concert Hall of the Central Conservatory of Music, 43 Baojiajie, Xicheng District
Tel: 6641-4759, 6642-5744
以下内容是与音乐会相关的信息，请匹配与之相关的音乐会。
56. To remember Henrik Ibsen, with pianist Wolfgang Plagge, violinist Annar Folles and soprano Gao Xia, the Norwegian Ibsen Trio will present the classic works of the celebrated playwright.
57. Jasmine Leong is a Malaysian singer who is very popular on the Taiwan music scene. Focusing on lyrical songs, Leong's Beijing performance will also tap into rock & roll music.
58. His platinum albums such as "You Make Me Happy and Sad," "Flowery Heart," "Music Brings Us Together" and "Emil & Friends" have brought him numerous awards in Singapore, and China's Taiwan and Hong Kong.
59. Jonathan Lee represents the creative spirit of the past 20 years in Taiwan and many renowned singers like Sarah Chan (Chen Shuhua), Sandy Lam (Lin Yilian), Emil Chau (Zhou Huajian) and Karen Mok (Mo Wenwei) draw great inspiration from Lee's works.
60. The mix of musical treats for children in Beijing includes various kinds of art forms, including Western classical music and Chinese traditional music, as well as puppet plays, crosstalk shows, and highlights of Chinese local operas such as Peking Operas and Kunqu Operas.
Five Olympic mascots were announced exactly 1000 days before the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony. The long--anticipated mascots represent four of China's most popular animals — the fish, the panda, the Tibetan antelope and the swallow .The fifth mascot is the brightly burning Olympic flame.
Each of the mascots has a repeated two-syllable name. This type of name is a traditional way of showing affection for children in China. BeiBei is the fish, JingJing is the panda, HuanHuan is the Olympic flame, YingYing is the Tibetan antelope and NiNi is the swallow. The first characters of their two-syllable names read “Beijing Huanying Ni,” or, in English, “Welcome to Beijing.”
The five elements of nature, including the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky are found in the mascot's origins and headpieces. These special headpieces also display the folk and culture of China. Each mascot also symbolizes a different blessing ---prosperity, happiness, passion, health and good luck.
It is the first time more than three mascots will share the important duty of representing their host country. Han Meilin, chief of the mascot design team explained that, “China has such a rich culture that no single mascot could possibly represent it! That is why we chose to produce five mascots instead of one.”
Called the “Five Friendlies,” the figures embody（体现） the Chinese people’s hope for peace and friendship in the world and the spirit of the Olympics, representing not only multi-ethnic(多民族的) cultures of China, but also the traditional Chinese philosophy of harmony between humans and nature.
In order to help Beijing 2008 spread its theme of One World, One Dream to every continent, the Five Friendlies reflect the deep desire of the Chinese people to reach out to the world in friendship through the Games — and to invite every man, woman and child to take part in the great celebration of human union in 2008.
1. What’s the theme of Beijing 2008 Olympics?
A.Welcome to Beijing.
B.Prosperity, Happiness, Passion, Health and Good luck.
C.New Beijing, New Olympics.
D.One World, One Dream.
2. What did Han Meilin, chief of the mascot design team, think of the five mascots?
A.He thought highly of the five mascots.
B.No single mascot could represent China.
C.The five mascots represented the culture of China.
D.They would reflect the desire of Chinese people.
3. Which of the following statements is not true?
A.It’s for the first time that five mascots are chosen to represent their host country in the Olympic history.
B.One of the five mascots YingYing stands for the Olympic flame.
C.Beijing announced its five 2008 Olympic mascots just 1000 days before the big event.
D.The five mascots express affection for Chinese children by two-syllable names.
4. Which of the following best reflects the main idea of the passage?
A.The 29th Olympic Games will be held in Beijing in 2008.
B.The theme of 2008 Beijing Olympics — One World, One Dream.
C.The significance of five 2008 Olympic mascots — the Five Friendlies.
D.How the Five Fantastic Mascots came into being.
5. What do the five mascots — the Five Friendlies represent?
A.“Beijing Huanying Ni,” or, in English, “Welcome to Beijing.”
B.Chinese multi-ethnic cultures, philosophy of harmony between humans and nature and five elements of nature.
C.Chinese people’s hope for peace and friendship in the world and the spirit of the Olympics.
D.The deep desire of the Chinese people to reach out to the world in friendship through the Olympics.
The naive fellow has never met a thief and firmly believes that he lives in a world without thieves. And, the female thief fights against other thieves only to protect this guy's "daydream". Sound strange? Then go to the cinema to see what happens in "A World Without Thieves" (Tianxia Wuzei). It's the latest offering from Chinese director Feng Xiaogang. The film will hit mainland cinemas on December 9, 2004.
Adapted from the book of the same name, it tells the story of a couple, both of them skillful thieves, who find their consciences on a thief-filled train.
Wang Bo (Andy Lau, or Liu Dehua) is a master pickpocket from Hong Kong. Wang Li (Rene Liu, or Liu Ruoying) is a "talented" cheat from Taiwan. They're partners in crime and passion, and cheat their way across China, until one day they run into Shagen (Wang Baoqiang) at a railway station.
An orphan since birth, Shagen spends more time with wolves than with men. He believes in the basic goodness of human nature and is convinced that he lives in a world without thieves. Having saved up 60,000 yuan after five years of hard work, he decides to go back to his hometown, build a house and get married.
However, the train Shagen boards is full of thieves. Besides Wang Bo and Wang Li, there is a gang of highwaymen under the control of Uncle Bill (Ge You). While Bill's men are trying to get Shagen's savings, Wang Li takes it on herself to be his protector.
Feng Xiaogang has become a supplier of New Year's movies in China. For four consecutive years, he has caused a nationwide media excitement at the end of each year. That started with 1998's "The Dream Factory" (Jiafang Yifang) and ran to last year's "Cell phone" (Shouji).
With "A World without Thieves", Feng tries his hand at something beyond his standard humor. For the first time, he employs a lot of special effects.
"I do like comedy, but I also want to know where my limits lie," said Feng, "The film is an experiment. It has special skills, love between thieves, as well as the rediscovery of conscience."
Feng says the film is more like a fairy tale: It's two thieves trying to protect someone's "daydream". "You see, a fairy tale may expose more about life and human nature than another story. You don't change the world with a film, but you make people see and feel innocence, and that's my power. "
46. The underlined word “naive” means _________.
A. lovely B. interesting C. innocent D. smart
47. Which of the following films is not directed by Feng Xiaogang?
A. Red River Valley B. A World Without Thieves
C. The Dream Factory D. Cellphone
48. It can be inferred from the text that _________.
Feng Xiaogang has directed more than three films since 1998.
This film was first on show on December 9, 2004.
Wang Bo and Wang Li are in the charge of Uncle Bill.
Feng Xiaogang likes fairy tales.
49. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
Introduction of Feng Xiaogang
Introduction of Liu Dehua
Brief introduction of Feng’s film — A World Without Thieves
Feng’s opinion about his film — A World Without Thieves
50. What’s Feng’s opinion about this film?
All the World is peaceful and perfect objects.
The power of the film is to make people see and feel innocence.
It’s only a fairy tale.
Let people rediscover their consciences by this film.
III. 阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节：阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Whether you’re headed to another country for business or pleasure, it is likely that you need to keep in touch with family or business partners in the United States. But if you plan to do that using your cell phone, you could have an unwelcome surprise-U.S. cell phones don’t work abroad. U.S. companies use different forms of technology, not like most of the international community, including Europe.
However, there is an easy, cost-effective solution(方法) to staying in touch while you’re traveling. You Can rent a phone that is guaranteed to work in the countries you’re visiting. Roadpost offers a 30-day cell phone rental plan that includes free incoming calls, free voicemail and call waiting services.
The service is convenient and simple. You can place your order online and your phone will be shipped to arrive on the date you want. If an unexpected business trip comes up, Roadpost can provide next-day delivery for most cities. In addition to the phone, Roadpost provides a spare battery, travel charger and a leather carrying case.
When your phone is shipped from Roadpost, you receive an e-mail confirmation that contains your international cell phone number so you can leave it with family members and business partners; Roadpost even provides business cards preprinted with your international phone number.
Those who don’t want to be without e-mail while traveling can rent an international BlackBerry. It can be hard to stay in touch by e-mail when traveling. With an international BlackBerry, you can email as much as you like, without worrying about an expensive bill. If you’re traveling to very remote areas, you may want to consider renting a satellite phone: Because they receive their signals from satellites, these phones work anywhere on the
planet, including oceans and mountains. When you return, simply ship the phone or BlackBerry back to Roadpost using the return kit the company provides.
1. According to the text, Roadpost probably is______.
A. an organization that offers some free services
B. a person who offers some advice to foreign tourists
C. a company that rents cell phones to Americans going abroad
D. a Person who makes travel plans for Americans
2. The first paragraph mainly tells us that ______.
A. Americans need to change their cell phones
B. European form of technology is different from America's
C. U.S. cell phones don't work abroad
D. Americans who go abroad will meet an unwelcome surprise
3. Which of the following will help you a lot in mountainous areas?
A. BlackBerry. B. The return kit.
C. E-mail. D. Satellite phones.
4. According to the text, it can be inferred that ______.
A. an international BlackBerry is mainly used to send e-mail
B. Roadpost can offer cell phones using in different areas
C. you should select a bag used to send your cell phone
D. Roadpost's service is convenient and simple
5. Which of the free services can you get from Road post?
A. Voicemail. B. Sending e-mail.
C. Shipping the phone back. D. Call waiting services.